With large sections of the population staying home and hesitant to deal with crowds, the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way that customers are using and relying on online grocery services, and grocery brands should take notice. Though it has been predicted for a while now that online grocery will become more prevalent in coming years, the current health crisis has created a strong and sudden upswing in these services. And with studies showing that the more people buy groceries online, the more convenient they find it, this shift in food purchasing behavior may be longer-lasting than the actual pandemic.
Now is the time for grocery brands to get a leg up against their competitors. Despite the fact that online grocery is a perpetually growing segment in ecommerce, most brands aren’t confident in their digital capabilities. According to the The Food Industry Association and Nielsen, only 22% of manufacturers and 7% of retailers believe they have the skills to succeed in the digital marketplace.
Trends for Up-and-Coming Grocery Brands
As content analysts who have worked in this space for more than a decade, we understand the constantly shifting currents in essential content, enhanced content, and Amazon Advertising. Brands looking to expand their footing in online grocery while maintaining their brick-and-mortar identity should take note of these Amazon ecommerce trends and start optimizing their product pages.
Trend #1: Short and Sweet Essential Content
Be quick and informative with capitalized headings for bullet points. Think about what the customer wants: list nutritional value, the quantity, how it’s shipped, and a quick statement about its star feature.
Trend #2: Unique Content for Unique Products
After conducting an audit on up-and-coming brands, we found that many lacked consistency in the quality of content among their products. Create content specific to the product; don’t just cut and paste the same blanket copy for every product in your ASIN list. It’s lazy, and customers can tell.
Trend #3: Enhanced Content, Optimized for Mobile
While strong imagery is vital, don’t rely on it entirely without accompanying copy. Avoid using only visual panels with text inside of images, as this isn’t optimized for mobile and is difficult for customers to read on smaller screens.
Trend #4: Successful Content That Covers All the Bases
Brands with good A+ content can successfully and stylishly show off their brand by utilizing images and text about both the company and the product itself. Information is segmented in sections, understanding that customers view the page in chunks rather than reading straight across the screen. Be dynamic and engaging with your page by including product comparison charts, recipe ideas, “about the company” information, nutritional graphics, and more.
How to Start
- Content is the foundation of your marketing strategy, and the product page is key to telling the customer everything they need to know. This includes both essential content and enhanced content. Create a compelling shopping experience by improving your brand’s product page.
- Use organic search and Amazon Advertising for Sponsored Products to keep your products relevant and catch the attention of new customers.
- Keep pages updated and keep up with the competition. Don’t just forget about content and advertising once it’s in place. Analyze campaign insights and keywords through Amazon Advertising and observe what other competitor brands are doing with their content to see if yours is lacking.
Whether your grocery brand is large or small, new or established, there’s never been a better time to optimize your content on Amazon.
